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gironamo

Finding a Floorplan

gironamo
11 years ago

Hi Everyone,

I am a new arrival to this forum. I was actually directed this way via my Google search query for âÂÂfarmhouse plansâÂÂ. While going through the posts on the forum, I was very impressed with everyoneâÂÂs knowledge of floor plans. I was wondering if you could help me out!

My husband and I are looking to build a home on our lot, we intend for this home to be a long term home where we raise our future family. We are looking for a 2 story farmhouse or country style home that has at least three bedrooms. We would like to have a dining room that opens into another room such as a living room, so that we can expand for our large families. We also were hoping to have the family room/great room be in the back of the house. I would like a garage with a bonus room, but a garage that is not prominent in relationship to the house. Finally, I would like a study/office that can be converted into a guest room. We are hoping to stay within 2100 square feet.

If you have any ideas I would really appreciate it. I feel like I am on a never-ending search!

Comments (6)

  • kirkhall
    11 years ago

    You have a regular city lot? (ie, not acreage)?

    Do you want to mostly be 1 level except the bonus, or would you like it to be a 2 level home?

    Does the 2100sq ft include the bonus room in your mind?

    Maybe start here (see link)--

    Here is a link that might be useful: DG Farmhouse plans, smallest first

  • gironamo
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    We live in a rural area. The land is 2.8 acres, however the back acre is dense woods. There is a house to the left (if facing in from road, very close our property line, so ideally I would prefer to have the garage on that side. The bonus would be space to expand into later- the 2100 would not include it. I'm going to check out the link now, thank you for sharing!

  • spagano
    11 years ago

    We are also looking at farmhouse plans and this board has been a great resource! Have you looked at Connor Homes?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Connor Homes

  • gironamo
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    We really like this plan but were hoping for a little larger. Does anyone have any links?

    Here is a link that might be useful: House plan

  • bevangel_i_h8_h0uzz
    11 years ago

    If you really like the Architectural Designs floorplan you linked to, why not just talk to them about enlarging it a tiny bit for you. I know Architectural Designs has a plan modification service and that particular plan would lend itself nicely to being enlarged.

    For example, you could stretch the kitchen and dining room to the left by 1 foot (move the garage and mudroom area over but keep them the same size). Then stretch the Living Room and Study to the right by 1 ft. (Move the staircase to the right to keep it up against the side wall.) Then stretch the Living Room, porch, and garage back by 1.5 ft. That would add a total of about 89 sq ft to the downstairs heated/cooled area and would add about 31 sq ft to your garage area.

    Upstairs, stretch bedroom #2 and masterbath to the left by 1 ft. Stretch the masterbedroom and Bedroom 3 to the right by 1 ft. Stretch the masterbedroom back by 1.5 feet. This would another 80 sq feet to your heated cooled area.

    That would leave you with a total of 2061 sq ft heated/cooled which is pretty close to the size limit you indicated you wanted. But, if you wanted to go right up to 2100 sq feet, you could also stretch the kitchen, foyer, and study AND the two secondary bedrooms and bath upstairs forward by 6 inches or so and land right at 2100 sq feet.

    If you have your heart set on a bonus room above the garage, that too can be done by extending the garage to the side about 3 feet and maybe forward a little bit to make room for a staircase in the corner to go up to the bonus room. You might then want to move the door into the mud room as well so the bottom of the staircase would be included in the heated/cooled area. Adding a bonus room over the garage will definitely put you over the 2100 sq ft limit you set since most such rooms have about 200 sq ft or more of "living space."

    In case it isn't clear what I mean by any or all of the above, here is a cut and paste sketch showing the suggested expansions and new room sizes in red. (green for garage expansions to accommodate a bonus room.) this is rough. An architect would adjust the placement of windows and doors so that they're properly spaced. But, once that was done, the final plan would give you an elevation indistinguishable from the original plan. It would just be a little bit bigger.

  • gironamo
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    bevangel- Thank you so much for your feedback! That is very helpful! This really helps me see the potential of this house plan.

    At this point we have our houses narrowed down to three:

    The one previously mentioned(http://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plan-40088DB.asp?srcID=HI)

    and http://www.houseplans.com/2180-square-feet-3-bedrooms-2-5-bathroom-country-house-plans-2-garage-19027

    as well as http://www.thehousedesigners.com/plan/malone-2514/

    Any additional thoughts/feedback/opinions are welcome.